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Sylvia Rhone

President

Ms. Rhone has been on top since 1994, when taking over Elektra made her the first African-American and first woman to run a major label. These days, the 57-year-old oversees 200 staffers, and sources say Motown tallied more than $350 million in revenues last year. With the biggest album of 2008 under her belt—Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III has sold more than 3 million copies—and Michael Jackson: The Remix Suite hitting shelves in September, Ms. Rhone is making sweet music in an industry filled with sour notes. -- Kira Bindrim

Creating a ranked list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York was no easy task for Crain’s editors, considering the multitude of women ably running many of the city’s important businesses and cultural organizations.